Germany hits out at EU's 'complete failure' to protect its borders

Migrants arriving at the central station in Munich, southern Germany, on Sept 12, 2015. PHOTO: AFP

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's transport minister on Sunday (Sept 13) hit out at the "complete failure" of the European Union to protect its external borders, as he called for measures to halt a record migrant influx.

"Effective measures are necessary now to stop the influx. That includes help for countries from where refugees are fleeing and also includes an effective control of our own borders which also no longer works given the EU's complete failure to protect its external borders," Alexander Dobrindt said in a statement.

Dobrindt, who is a member of the Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Bavarian allies CSU, also warned that the country "has reached its limit of capacity", a day after 12,200 more refugees reached the southern German city of Munich - a key arrival point.

As Germany buckles under the strain of the record refugee influx expected to reach 800,000 this year, dissenting voices from the CSU has grown louder.

Dobrindt's statement came just days after CSU vice president Hans-Peter Friedrich called Merkel's decision "an unprecedented political error" that would have "catastrophic consequences".

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.